The AlotiiT (Banyas) :The Rice Guard

THE ALOTIIT (BANYAS) :THE RICE GUARD

One of the indigenous art motif that is found in Cordillera is the ‘lizard design’. According to Lakay Gumeng before he died,this started long time ago when there was a man whose rice farm was being pestered by rats. He tried hunting the rats but had failed in preventing them from causing damage to his farm. Other farmers in their village were also experiencing it. Thus, he turned to the gods and prayed – prayed for days and nights. After a month or so when harvest time was about to come; he was surprised to discover that no rats were found on his farm. He miraculously had an abundant harvest.

With gratitude, he turned to the farm to kneel and pray when he discovered a strange creature – a shiny four-legged animal with a tail and its head resembling a snake or a frog. The creature has unique colors that he had not seen from any other animals before. He realized that it must be the creature sent by the gods to scare the rats and pests in his farm. The strange creature disappeared instantly when he was about to approach it.

From then on, the man carved that creature's design in the doors of his rice storage house and even on his pots in his belief that the design will scare away pests and rats. Some villagers, seeing that it is something the gods might want them to do, started doing the same.